


Almost There

by micaelllla



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, they still have the force and droids and all that fun stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23437825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/micaelllla/pseuds/micaelllla
Summary: I laid my head against the open book in front of me and groaned. Nothing has gone how I thought it would. It never does, but now I find myself lamenting my waste of an education. A theatre degree and I’ve never been cast. A performance major who finds herself more welcome in droid club than in the green room. There’s only one semester left after I make it through finals. One semester left then I’ll be in the “real world” and I honestly have no idea what I’m going to do.A modern college au that still has those Star Wars elements.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. Just finish the paper

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written Star Wars before, and it has been many years since I've even written fanfiction, but alas... Quarantine. Please be kind and feel free to comment any and everything from general responses to critiques to whatever.

_I did not sign up for this._

Three papers, two tests, and 7 discussion posts all due tomorrow. I’m a damn theatre student, not engineering. My senior year was supposed to be full of performances and tech rehearsals, not this shit.

I laid my head against the open book in front of me and groaned. Nothing has gone how I thought it would. It never does, but now I find myself lamenting my waste of an education. A theatre degree and I’ve never been cast. A performance major who finds herself more welcome in droid club than in the green room. There’s only one week left after I make it through finals. One week left then I’ll be in the “real world” and I honestly have no idea what I’m going to do.

I bounced my head against the book a bit before sitting back up. I decided to switch to the discussion posts before I actually burned the book in front of me. I pulled my old laptop out of my bag and booted it up. It groaned and the fan was just a little too loud and I glanced around to double check that no one else was in this corner. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had complained about how loud my laptop was. 

The coast was clear. 

The next 6 hours were spent hunched over that laptop, switching between the papers and the posts and the study guides. I finally packed my bags when I couldn’t ignore my stomach growling anymore. I trekked the mile from the library to my apartment with my head down and wishing I had a bigger coat. Luckily, the streets of University were empty at 3am, and the stormtroopers had more interest in napping in their patrol vehicles than making sure all of the poor students that walked to and from campus made it home safely. You saw more droids out at this hour than any other time of day. This town barely tolerated them, really only allowing maintenance droids to circle through at odd hours.  


My door stuck and I kicked it open before tossing my backpack on my mattress. I had found a tiny studio apartment for a price I could afford with the help of doing some maintenance for the landlord for free. It was barely two rooms, and one of those rooms housed a toilet. I shuffled to the wall barely qualified as a kitchen and grabbed a ramen packet. It would be enough. 

* * *

The tests the next day were a success, and I found myself in the shop with Unkar before the afternoon had begun. Unkar Plutt was a horrible Crolute with a bad attitude, but he ran his shop efficiently, cutting costs in ways the department appreciated enough to not question. I was finishing a particularly hard build for him, and he left me alone, more interested in watching the freshmen cry as he snarled at them.

I finished and snuck out of the shop before Unkar could throw another project at me. I still had to finish those papers, after all. I had some change in my pocket and picked up a bowl of oats that I scarfed down on my way to the library. A lot of people hated it, but oatmeal could really fill you up for very little. 

The library had a small hallway that not very many people knew about that led up to a corner of an upper floor forgotten by most students. It was my favorite place to work. I dropped down and worked out a few more pages of the papers. I was to the point that I could easily finish it tomorrow before it was due. I debated for a minute if I should just go ahead and finish, before deciding that that was ultimately the smarter, more responsible choice, even if it was boring. I sighed and dug back in. There wasn’t anything else waiting for me anyway.

* * *

Walking home was one of my favorite parts of the night. It was quiet, and the transports that whizzed by were few and far between. No one liked to travel near my apartments. They were a sore on the community. 

Except tonight, I guess.

A bb-series astromech came screeching at me just as my apartment came into view. It wanted help. After a moment, I realized it was because a spindly creature was chasing after it, probably for parts. “Hey! Leave this droid alone!” I yelled at him as the droid rolled behind my legs.

“Bug off, Rey,” a familiar voice said as Teedo came into view. “This one is mine.”

“This one isn’t for scraps, Teedo,” I said. Before he could argue with me any more, I grabbed my pocket staff and extended it in a fighting stance. Teedo has felt this whip of my staff more than once, and backed off. He gave me a deadly glare and turned to walk down a neighboring street. The bb unit chirped in thanks.

“Don’t mention it,” I responded. I compacted my staff and started towards my apartment, expecting the droid to continue to wherever it was headed. But it didn’t. It rolled next to me and kept pace, chirping out another thanks. “Hey, just go back to… wherever you were headed.” I stopped and gazed at the droid. I really could not deal with this. I continued on, and the droid stayed right with me. “I’m Rey,” I said. It chirped back it’s name. “It’s nice to meet you, beebee-ate. Who do you belong to?” He chirped. “Classified? Alright, then. Well, follow me.”

* * *

Beebee-ate was a hilarious, fiesty little droid who thankfully didn’t question the state of my apartment. Or when he watched me cook my last ramen. Or when my old mattress was suddenly the most comfortable thing I had ever felt. It was now the weekend before finals, which meant that I was officially done with the semester, if not actually official. I just didn’t have any finals to take next week. Just those two papers that I was suddenly very glad to have finished ahead of schedule.

I actually slept in Saturday morning. A rare treat for me. I woke around 10am, and startled at the droid gazing down at me. For a moment, I had forgotten about beebee-ate’s existence. He chirped a good morning.

“You startled me,” I grumbled, calming down from the miniature heart attack I had just received. He whined apologetically before asking what our plan for the day was. “Our plan?” A chirp. “Oh, I need food. The store, I guess.” I jumped up and threw on some clothes, suddenly feeling the hunger I had just reminded myself of.  
Beebee-ate followed along as I walked to the Niima Outpost, a small convenience store just past my apartment complex. It was also owned by my slummy landlord, and served as a good spot to trade droid parts on the side. And of course Unkar would be there. 

I offered a scrap part to the cashier in exchange for enough credit to grab more ramen and some oatmeal. It was not enough credit for the part I had, but it was the only shop around that didn’t require a droid license to trade. Unkar saddled up to me when I stepped away from the cashier and said, “I’ll give you 60 credits for the droid.” His coin purse clanked against his hip, and, for a moment, it was tempting. 60 credits was enough to feed me through the first month of Summer.

“The droid’s not for sale,” I responded before walking out, beebee-ate following close behind. Unkar grumbled as the door closed.  
They trailed back to the apartment for a moment, dropping the food in the kitchen. And then, I didn’t know what to do. I suddenly realized that my semester was over, and I wasn’t responsible for anything. Well, except beebee-ate, I guess. Close enough. 

“What am I going to do with all my free time?” I asked the droid. He chirped about the market. “The market _is_ running… Let’s go to the market, then.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back and changed a few details in the first chapter. Enjoy!

Food.

The entire lot smells like food.

My stomach growled from wanting, which I promptly ignored. I knew from experience that the food here smelled friendlier than it actually was. 

Still, the air was filled with the smell of barbecued meats, the sound of frying dough. The market always reminded me of the fairs from when I was a child, though a lot smaller and without as many criminals.

“Stay close,” I looked down to beebee-ate, and he chirped in a disappointed manner. “Don’t pout. There’s plenty of people lurking in the shadows that would strip you for parts before you could turn your head.” He rolled closer to me. 

I showed beebee-ate around the market; it seemed he had never been shown the booths of trinkets and parts. Stalls of meats piled high, jams of bright colors. It is an intoxicating environment, both to the senses and in the ease of access to booze. 

“You’ve never been to the market?” Beebee-ate chirped a negative. “But you knew it was happening? How is that?” Chirps. “Too busy? With what?” Chirps. “Classified. You must be a very important droid, Beebee-ate.” 

Beebee-ate chirped his own importance for a while, uplifted to hear such a compliment. Suddenly, his chirps were angry. He motioned to a man across the market, a few aisles down but clearly in our view, saying that he was wearing the stolen jacket of his master. 

“Him? Are you sure?” Beebee-ate chirped affirmatively, and I took off. The man saw me running towards him and took off running. He obviously wasn’t very familiar with the layout of the market, however, and I took a quick shortcut, beebee-ate at my heels, to beat the man to where he was going. I pulled my staff out and extended it just in time for it to make contact with his face. He hit the ground and groaned, and my staff was poised at his face. “What’s your hurry, thief?” 

“What? Thief?” He sputtered. Beebee-ate zapped him. “Hey! What the-”

“The jacket,” I interrupted. “This droid says you stole it.”

His eyes darted back up to me. “Listen, I’ve already had a pretty messed up day, alright? So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t accuse me of-” Beebee-ate zapped him again. “Ow! Stop it!”

“Where’d you get it? It belongs to his master.”

The man’s entire body sank even further into the ground and he looked at beebee-ate. “Your master? Poe Dameron, right? That was his name, wasn’t it?” He looked at beebee-ate, who glanced up at me before turning his attention back to the man. “He was captured by the First Order. I helped him escape. He-” He looked to beebee-ate. “I’m sorry. He didn’t make it.” Beebee-ate moaned, and his head sank. “I tried to help him. I’m sorry.” Beebee-ate rolled a few feet away from us, head hanging low. I pulled my staff away from the man’s face, and glanced back at beebee-ate, satisfying myself that he wasn’t in immediate danger of becoming spare parts. My eyes darted back to the man sprawled before me.

“So you’re with the Resistance?”

“Yes.” He darted to his feet. “I am. Obviously. I am with the Resistance.”

I eyed him. He wasn’t telling me the truth, or at least the entire truth, but he didn’t seem to be dangerous. “I’ve never met a Resistance fighter before.”

“Well, this is what we look like. Or, uh, some of us. Others look different,” he stuttered with false bravado. I took a moment to actually take in the man standing in front of me. He was of average height and build, with dark skin and cropped hair. His eyes were either darting about or focused entirely on one spot. At the moment, he seemed very boyish.

“Beebee-ate says he has to get back to your base. That he’s on a secret mission,” I glanced back at the droid in question. He was rolling back and forth, creating a depression in the ground beneath him. I turned back to the man.

“Yeah. He’s supposed to have the map to Luke Skywalker,” he said quickly. “Everyone’s after it.”

“Luke Skywalker? I thought he was a myth,” I whispered in surprise. Luke Skywalker was a Resistance hero against the Empire. He was a Jedi, a knight known for his skill with both weapon and computer. He seemed impossible in this world of small town college kids and greasy junk traders. 

Suddenly beebee-ate starting beeping at us in quick tones. My head snapped to where he was indicating to find two stormtroopers talking to trader a few aisles across, who then pointed his finger in our direction. I felt a firm, sweaty hand grab mine and I looked down to see the Resistance fighter’s hand in my own.

“What are you doing?” My voice was too high for my liking.

“Come on,” he said as he pulled me away. The stormtroopers started firing their blasters at us, and I started to run in earnest. The stormtroopers must be after the fighter, or even beebee-ate. They’re rarely seen at the market; they prefer to let the underbelly of the town fend for itself.

“Come on, beebee-ate!” The fighter yelled.

“Let go of my hand!” I tried to yank my hand away. “I know how to run without you dragging me along.”

The troopers were running after us, firing their blasters with enthusiasm. I could hear the merchants and traders yelling in frustration and ducking out of the way. They were used to skirmishes, but not ones involving actual stormtroopers.

“This way,” I said as I pulled the fighter into a closed - and thankfully empty - tent. “They’re firing at both of us?”

“They saw you with me. You’re marked.”

“Well, thanks!” I gasped, catching my breath. The fighter starting rummaging around the booth.

“I’m not the one who chased you down with a stick,” he pointed an accusatory finger at me. He had a point. My eyes caught sight of beebee-ate, and I kneeled before him. “Does anybody have blasters around here?” The fighter grumbled.

“Are you okay?” I asked the droid. He chirped an affirmative. The fighter whipped around and shushed us, and as I was gearing up a retort, I heard the sound of ship engines nearing. This wasn’t a place that saw ships that could actually fly. The fighter grabbed hold of me and took off running. “Stop taking my hand!”

I heard the ships behind us, and the sound of the blasters they were firing. They hit a nearby booth and sent us to the ground as people around screamed. The impact of the ground knocked the wind out of me, and as I pulled myself to my hands and knees, I saw beebee-ate rolling towards us. I looked up to see the ships - two ships I now knew - curving above to make another sweep over the area. My eyes locked on the fighter who was groaning on the ground a few feet away. I crawled over and grabbed his shoulder. “Hey.”

He groaned and sat up. “Are you okay?” I blinked in surprise. 

“Yeah.” I held out my hand and pulled him up. “Follow me.”

We ran across the lot to a new cruiser that must’ve belonged to a visiting parent. Stupid to leave it in this area. Some more blasts went off around us.

“We can’t outrun them!” The fighter yelled.

“We might if we can get in that cruiser!” I pointed ahead of us. 

“We need a pilot!”

“We’ve got one,” I said confidently.

“What about that ship?” He asked, indicating to the old ship that’s been sitting at the edge of the lot for as long as I’ve been here.

“That’s garbage,” I said, shaking my head. Just then, the cruiser ahead of us went up in flames as the ships above hit them with their blasters. We stopped in our tracks. “The garbage will do.” We ran onto the ship, and I hoped with every fiber of my being that it would turn on. And fly.

“Gunner position is down there,” I indicated down a hallway just off the entrance. I was very grateful that I had dug around in the ship before. I ran down an opposite hallway towards the cockpit.

“Have you ever flown this thing?” The fighter’s voice trailed behind me.

“No, this ship hasn’t flown in years,” I admitted, buckling myself into the pilot’s seat.  _ I can do this. I can do this.  _ I flipped on the switches and started firing up the engine. He didn’t have to know I’d never actually flown anything. I could do it. The thrusters hummed to life as the ship started to rise. The whole thing shook like an earthquake, and I held my breath as I urged it higher off the ground. I continued firing the control panel in as close a method as I could get to the simulations I had flown in the campus labs. The ship lurched to the side and clipped the ground, and I pulled hard on the steering to right it. I needed a co-pilot. The ships fired on us and clipped a far corner of the ship, which thankfully didn’t take the whole thing down. “Are you going to fire back?” I yelled over the intercom. I heard our blasters going off in response. He shot down one of the ships quickly, and I could hear his cheering echoing through the ship, even as he continued to fire. I took off away from the town, and we were flying over miles of trees. The First Order’s ship was still firing on us, but thankfully missing as I maneuvered the ship through the familiar territory.

“I can’t hit him! Can you lose him?” The fighter’s voice admitted over the intercom. I groaned.

“There’s a weird junk lot nearby. I won’t lose him, but I may be able to get you enough cover to actually hit him,” I offered. I hoped it was enough.

“Let’s do it,” he responded.

I jerked the ship to the right, heading towards the old, abandoned junkyard. The Empire had used it as a junk post for Rebel materials, and after the fall, it had remained a metal skyline in the distance. Not worth junking, not worth cleaning. A ghost of the old war. There was one stack of ships that was high enough to provide cover as we rounded it in a sharp u-turn. We came around with just enough time to shoot the First Order’s ship down. I could hear the whooping coming from the man as he ran into the cockpit. 

“Did you see that!” He nearly jumped.

“That was amazing!” I responded.

He sunk down into the co-pilot’s seat, chatting excitedly. Beebee-ate rolled in chirping angrily about the aggressive flying, and the man shut up. I locked on autopilot and turned to the droid.

“You’re okay. He’s with the Resistance.” Beebee-ate peered around me at the man, then back at me. “He’s gonna get you home.” I paused, then continued, “We both will.” I was suddenly nervous, and I turned back to the man who was shifting around in his seat. “I don’t know your name.”

“Finn. What’s yours?” He met my eye.

“I’m Rey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to let me know what you think! (Good and bad!) And get in touch with me on tumblr at micaelllla.tumblr.com!


End file.
